It is very fitting that Duncanville, Texas is known as the "City of Champions" because the top girls' basketball team in the country hails from Duncanville. The Duncanville High School Pantherettes finished #1 in the MaxPreps Freeman rankings, and were the top team to be honored on this year's MaxPreps Girls Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard. Led by Head Coach Cathy Self-Morgan the Pantherettes earned the Texas 5A State Championship after a 40-1 record.
The team was honored with a community parade and banquet on Wednesday, April 19th. The team gathered in the center of town in preparation for a parade that was being hosted in their honor. During the parade, the players and coaches rode in style being chauffeured by a convoy of convertibles and a police escort. Before the parade could start however, Coach Self-Morgan and her players appeared for a live interview on the local news. The parade route was covered with fans, parents, friends, supporters and the Pantherettes were greeted at their banquet by the Duncanville High School cheerleading squads and more adoring fans. When the banquet began there were many distinguished guests that came to show their support of the team, a list that included Texas State Senator Royce West and also Duncanville Mayor David Green. As the banquet progressed the team received many great accolades including a key to the city, but now it was time for our trophy presentation. MaxPreps representative Jim Redman took center stage and touched on what a great season the Pantherettes had to achieve the ultimate height of being #1 in the country out of a pool of 20,000 girl's teams! Jim then turned the presentation over to Texas Army National Guard Sergeant First Class Burns. SFC Burns spoke about how being in the Army National Guard he too relies on his fellow soldiers and teammates in order to complete their mission, and the Pantherettes showcased the same form of teamwork to earn a state and national championship title. SFC Burns then presented Coach Self-Morgan with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy and in doing so the crowd erupted with thunderous applause.
Duncanville displayed a great deal of community cohesiveness and helped the Pantherettes earn a state and national championship. Duncanville High School was a fantastic team to honor and we hope to be back in the future. Congratulations to Coach Cathy Self-Morgan and the Duncanville Pantherettes!
